1. Field of the Disclosure
This disclosure relates in general to enclosures for depositing air-sensitive materials.
2. Description of the Related Art
Electronic devices utilizing organic active materials are present in many different kinds of electronic equipment. In such devices, an organic active layer is sandwiched between two electrodes.
One type of electronic device is an organic light emitting diode (“OLED”). OLEDs are promising for display applications due to their high power-conversion efficiency and low processing costs. Such displays are especially promising for battery-powered, portable electronic devices, including cell-phones, personal digital assistants, handheld personal computers, and DVD players. These applications call for displays with high information content, full color, and fast video rate response time in addition to low power consumption.
Process advantages can be achieved when one or more of the organic layers in the electronic device are formed by liquid deposition. However, many of the organic materials are sensitive to oxygen and/or moisture. The typical approach to avoiding contamination during printing is to place the entire printing operation in an inert environment. This approach reduces the economic advantage of printing vs. thermal evaporation. Process upsets and equipment maintenance require long purge times to control the process environment, both for safe entry by personnel and for restarting the process. Large volumes of gas must be treated, requiring significant investment.
There is a need for new processes to deposit such materials.